Michigan Startup's New Technology Rewards You Just For Driving Your Car

I used to carry around just two keys: one for my house, and one for my car. Now, my keychain is bursting with loyalty cards -- little shards of plastic embedded with a UPC code that tells each store I visit what I like to buy so the retailer can offer special promotions tailored just for me. It’s a nuisance to carry around all those little cards, but I like the discounts I get with them, so I keep going back.

Get ready to receive the same kind of treatment from your car. Maybe you’ll get an online coupon to extend your satellite radio subscription beyond the initial free trial period. Or perhaps you’ll receive a discount on premium parking close to your office. Or a free oil change and tire rotation at your local dealership.

Marketers use these kinds of loyalty promotions all the time -- energy drinks, clothing labels and even lifestyle brands like REI. The idea is pretty simple: make your customers feel special, and they’ll keep coming back. Others use them to get customers to try new products or services.

The dawn of connected cars – web-enabled vehicles that know everything about your driving habits – makes it possible to replicate that experience on wheels.

The stakes are high, both for automakers and for technology companies trying to figure out how to make money on all the bits of data flowing in and out of connected cars. Software developers, mobile operators and even insurance and energy companies are jockeying for position on your dashboard, convinced they can generate new revenues by offering tailored services or advertising promotions.

Even more than a quick profit, though, carmakers want repeat customers. In the long run, they’ll make a lot more money selling you another vehicle than they will marketing an app for your car’s touchscreen.

Livio, a Michigan-based start-up, has parked itself in the middle of this space, offering a digital marketplace that it says serves everybody’s interests. Its new technology, Livio Keys, is a customizable software package that helps the apps and content partners work directly with carmakers to offer promotional deals to drivers. It works with both Bluetooth audio and proprietary platforms, and is compatible with HTML5 sites, mobile apps from iTunes, Android, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and carmakers’ own dashboard apps.

The name refers to product “keys” that can unlock special features in the car, like complementary roadside assistance, for example. A developer might post a deal for its app or service on the Livio Keys site, and if an automaker chooses to accept it, the company would then make that offer to certain car owners, based on the vehicle identification number, or VIN. Customers would then be able to download the app during the promotional period, either through their smartphone or their car’s embedded telematics system.

Livio is happy, too: it collects a licensing fee and commission on any revenues generated.

Sigal founded Livio in 2008 with a $10,000 loan from his parents, initially to sell Wi-Fi Internet radios for home use. He later shelved that idea in favor of developing software designed to integrate mobile apps into vehicles. Livio’s first automotive contract, with
General Motors, was for the 2013 Chevrolet Spark.

With Livio Keys, now being piloted with unidentified carmakers, Sigal admits “we’re a little ahead of the curve.”

But he says the technology isn’t about pushing coffee coupons to your dashboard while you’re driving past a
Starbucks. Rather, it’s an opportunity for carmakers to build a relationship with their customers. “Just like at REI, you’re part of the club.”